" 'President Lee will present the direction of the world economy after the (2008-2009) crisis and focus on improving understanding on new agenda items,' Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters, adding that South Korea wants the G20 to start formal discussions on ways to foster development of poor nations and create a global financial safety net in the November summit."

As for Canadian's, we just want to know "where's the beef?" As
Reuters reports

"China agreed on Thursday to accept Canadian boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age and beef tallow, as a first step to full market access.

"The
deal with China leaves South Korea as the only country to maintain its ban Canadian beef after an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy disease in 2003. It is expected to push Seoul toward resolving a dispute with Canada that's currently before the World Trade Organization."

"President Felipe Calderón will participate on Saturday and Sunday at the Fourth Summit of Leaders of the G20, among whom he will make a presentation of progress and remaining challenges XVI towards the UN Convention on Climate Change to be held in Cancun, Quintana Roo."

And in
El Universal, it was predicted that Calderon will push to lower trade barriers within North America:

"Although
the Mexican president will insist on the issue of lowering the protectionism, he has complained that in previous meetings of the G20, especially those of Pittsburgh and Washington in 2008 and 2009, all agree to stop protectionism, but to leave the meeting the first thing they have done is strengthen protectionist measures."

Russia: Zany!

Russian news sites seem, uh, a little less than sober. I really
hope this isn't just the translator (feel free to let us know if Google's got it wrong, or if the Russians really do write news like this) on the protests in Toronto:

"Met with David Cameron. Have agreed that we'll continue to speak in person, not just online
@number10gov"

Saudi Arabia: Oil!

The Arab News called the summit an "economic clash of civilizations," but didn't really spell out what that meant.

They did provide some interesting text on how the Saudi's refer to their ruler and themselves: "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is already in Toronto to represent Saudi Arabia at the summit. Saudi membership of the G20 is in direct recognition of its position as the single largest oil exporter in the world, in addition to being a country with the largest oil reserves."

Their view of the summit prep was also, um, interesting:

"Canadian police patrolled the Lake Ontario waterfront on boats and jet skis. The number of security forces protecting the summit meetings was estimated at 19,000, drawn from all over Canada.

"Under the new regulations, police, at their discretion, can deny access to the [security zone]and
'use whatever force is necessary' to keep people out.

"A number of schools in the downtown Toronto area, including the prestigious University of Toronto's downtown campus, were closed down and exams rescheduled, so as to avoid any major disturbance."

South Africa:
Window Dressing?

In South Africa's
Mail and Guardian there was some concern about "window dressing" over Stephen Harper's invitation of seven African countries - South Africa, Malawi, Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt - to attend this year's G8 summit.

"
African leaders make themselves objects of ridicule if they just engage in conversations on the sidelines of these kinds of meetings," said Dr Francis Ikome, director of the African and Southern African programme at the Institute for Global Dialogue (IGD).

Next story

| Learn More

Discover content from The Globe and Mail that you might otherwise not have come across. Here we’ll provide you with fresh suggestions where we will continue to make even better ones as we get to know you better.

You can let us know if a suggestion is not to your liking by hitting the ‘’ close button to the right of the headline.